Canucks and Beyond

Entries with the tag: ny mets

There’s been much preoccupation with the fact that the Red Wings, possibly just inches away from winning this year’s Stanley Cup, may do so aided for the first time by a European captain.

The origins of this come from the notion that Europeans are ‘soft’, ‘don’t make good leaders’ and don’t have enough grit for the big prize. But where does that attitude even exist in the modern NHL and why this seemingly-endless obsession with debunking it?

As far as I can tell, the only prominent person who is still in hockey today that ever argued Europeans were soft was Don Cherry. And—aside from the fact that bombast and controversial commentary are historically part of Cherry’s schtick—I don’t even think Cherry believes that anymore.

So why do so many others still need guys like Nik Lidstrom to prove him wrong?